The wild pears turned out not to be sour at all—they were sweet and juicy. Jack Cooper had two big bumps on his head, and his eye had taken a heavy hit from a pear. It probably wouldn’t be long before it turned black and blue, but for now he still looked very cute, hugging the pear and eating it with relish.

Henry Clark took his own pants, tied a knot in one leg, and put all the more intact pears inside. He slung them over his shoulder, picked up Jack Cooper, and continued on their way. If you’re not dead, you have to keep moving. Since you’re walking, you should walk well, walk steadily, and go far.

Chapter Three: Eating Is Really Hard

The bamboo forest gradually faded into the distance, and ahead appeared a stretch of pine woods. The plants here had a strong sense of territory—where there was bamboo, there were no pines, and where there were pines, you couldn’t see any bamboo. Compared to the bamboo forest, the pine woods were much safer; poisonous snakes generally didn’t like to stay in pine forests. Bamboo groves were a paradise for snakes, especially the beautiful, emerald-green bamboo pit vipers, which loved to bite people on the neck as they passed by...

Stockpiling food was something Henry Clark always had to do. Pine nuts were an excellent food source. The pine cones, over a foot long, were full of delicious pine nuts. After picking seven or eight pine cones from the low pine trees, Henry Clark felt like a rich man—at least the big-tailed squirrel standing on the pine tree was looking at him with admiration.

The sun was already leaning westward; in another two hours it would set. They were almost at the mountaintop, and there was still no cell signal, which made Henry Clark feel even more uneasy.

Jack Cooper had fallen into a deep sleep, his head resting sweetly on Henry Clark’s neck. After all, a three- or four-year-old’s body couldn’t handle too much activity.

There were no snakes in the pine woods, but there were bears. With so many animals around, there was no way there wouldn’t be large carnivores. Just looking at the pine tree polished smooth and shiny by a bear’s rubbing, you could tell the bears here must be enormous.

Even primitive people knew to find a cave for shelter—of course Henry Clark would know that too. He hadn’t found a cave, but he was lucky enough to find a tree hollow. He never imagined a tree could grow so thick; the inside was already hollow, but the outside was still lush and green. About waist-high, there was a hole just big enough for a person to crawl into, and the other cracks were only as wide as a palm. If it was dry enough inside, it would be the ideal place to stay.

He lit a handful of pine needles and tossed them in. Soon, a large group of squirrels came scrambling out in a panic. Perfect—where there are squirrels, it means it’s not damp. Squirrels hate moisture too.

He gathered a lot of pine resin in the pine woods; that would be their lighting for the night. Without fire, he and Jack Cooper wouldn’t survive the long, dark night. In the distance, the howling of wolves could already be heard...

He collected a lot of dry pine needles and threw them into the tree hollow. He’d checked earlier—the space inside was roomy. What made Henry Clark happiest was finding traces of someone having made a fire inside. A wooden stump inside was charred black, though long cold. Still, Henry Clark was delighted. Only people could use fire, and as long as there were people, he and Jack Cooper would have a way to survive.

Lighting a fire inside a tree hollow would normally be courting death, but this was a living tree. The moist wood wouldn’t catch fire. He made a little nest with pine needles and dry grass, wrapped the sleeping Jack Cooper tightly in his own clothes, and started a fire again in the spot that was already charred.

It turned out there was a hole at the top of the tree as well, so the smoke naturally drifted out through the hollow trunk, leaving not a trace of smoke below. This was nature’s great gift.

As Henry Clark was cracking open pine cones with a wooden stick, Jack Cooper woke up. Rubbing his bruised eye, he stared blankly at the bright pine resin torch, not understanding how he’d ended up in a wooden house.

“Awake? Hungry? Wait a bit longer and I’ll roast some pine nuts for you. Eating too many raw pine nuts isn’t good. If you’re really starving, have a couple of pears first.”

Henry Clark turned to smile at Jack Cooper and went back to cracking pine cones. Pine nuts spilled out from the crushed cones, plump and full. In the past, Henry Clark could never have afforded such big pine nuts.

A stone slab was set over the fire, and William Clark scattered the pine nuts on top, carefully stirring them. The crackling sound of the pine nuts popping made Jack Cooper feel much better. He whispered to Henry Clark, “I wish I had a big brother like you.”

“What nonsense are you talking about? Aren’t I your big brother now? Technically, I’m your teacher, so you should compare me to a father. But I’m so young and handsome, being a dad is too much of a loss, so just call me brother!” Henry Clark did his best to lighten the mood. People who are downcast can’t survive long in the wild.

“I hate the surname He. Brother, can I take your surname instead? Just seeing that surname makes me uncomfortable. I want to be called Yun too. It’s such a beautiful name. The reason I liked you from the start was because I heard your surname was Yun.”

“Jianqiang, as long as you like it, that’s fine. I have a bad feeling—we probably can’t go back. Look at this tree hollow—someone’s been here before. When I was cleaning it out, I found this.”

Henry Clark handed Jack Cooper a wolf-fang arrow. It really was a wolf-fang arrow—the arrowhead wasn’t made of iron, but was set with a wolf’s fang, ground razor-sharp.